<div style="width:438px; font-size:95%; margin-top:3.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; padding-left:1em; padding-right: 1em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-bottom:0.2em; background:#f9f9f9;-moz-border-radius:0.5em; -webkit-border-radius:0.5em; border-radius:0.5em;font-weight: normal">The ability to wirelessly control neural circuitry has been a long-standing goal in neuroscience. Recent advances have put this goal in site using optogenetic approaches. In 2011, multiple groups presented the first attempts at making wireless light delivery application for optogenetics ([http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168010211000137 Iwai et al., 2011]; [http://iopscience.iop.org/1741-2552/8/4/046021/ Wentz et al., 2011]). These advances, however, were constrained to particular environments or apparatuses to power the devices. The radiofrequency power scavenging approach presented in [http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6129/211.long Kim et al., 2013] frees the experimenter from these constraints. In the recent report, the [http://www.bruchaslab.org/Home.html Bruchas] (Washington University at St. Louis) and [http://rogers.matse.illinois.edu/ Rogers] (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) labs present ultrathin, microscale optoelectronics and sensors that can be used for the optogenetic manipulations. Unlike other wireless approaches this system can be used with any behavioral apparatus or paradigm, which should allow researchers to explore more complex behaviors while perturbing neural circuitry. [http://openoptogeneticsblog.org/?p=656 ...Continue reading...]<br/>

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<div style="width:438px; font-size:95%; margin-top:3.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; padding-left:1em; padding-right: 1em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-bottom:0.2em; background:#f9f9f9;-moz-border-radius:0.5em; -webkit-border-radius:0.5em; border-radius:0.5em;font-weight: normal">[[File:TMoser_small.jpg|right|250px|]]The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant electrical cochlear implant] (CI) is considered the most successful neuroprosthesis. Implanted in more than 200,000 hearing-impaired subjects worldwide, CIs enable open speech comprehension in the majority of users. A major drawback of current cochlear prostheses is their low frequency resolution due to current spread of electrical stimulation, limiting their use in music enjoyment and prosody. Thus, there is need for spatially confined stimulation to improve frequency resolution. In [http://www.jci.org/articles/view/69050 a recent Journal of Clinical Investigation article], Tobias Moser and his colleagues demonstrate the feasibility of optogenetic activation of the auditory pathway by stimulating the auditory nerve inside the cochlea. [http://openoptogeneticsblog.org/?p=682 ...Continue reading...]<br/>

Latest revision as of 09:22, 25 March 2014

The electrical cochlear implant (CI) is considered the most successful neuroprosthesis. Implanted in more than 200,000 hearing-impaired subjects worldwide, CIs enable open speech comprehension in the majority of users. A major drawback of current cochlear prostheses is their low frequency resolution due to current spread of electrical stimulation, limiting their use in music enjoyment and prosody. Thus, there is need for spatially confined stimulation to improve frequency resolution. In a recent Journal of Clinical Investigation article, Tobias Moser and his colleagues demonstrate the feasibility of optogenetic activation of the auditory pathway by stimulating the auditory nerve inside the cochlea. ...Continue reading...

What is OpenOptogenetics?
OpenOptogenetics is a collaborative project started in 2010 which aims at promoting, facilitating and democratizing the use of optogenetic approaches in biological research. In this wiki, researchers can share their technical know-how and keep each other informed about the latest technical advances. OpenOptogenetics also provides background knowledge to help everyone master current tools and anticipate future technical developments.

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